Grafton
Places of Interest 'Nest Apartments' (Resources 2 Housing) Technically, these are the 'West Apartments', but the first leg of the W has been broken for years, leaving what looks very much like an N. The building is made of the dirty brown-grey brick popular in the early 1970s, and of a typical style for that era - basically a big, boring block, filled with little, boring apartments. 'Veteran's Administration Hospital '(Science 2/Medicine 3 Site) Located on the corner across from the bus station and train tracks, since 1975 the VA has been housed in the old Borden Arms Building. Like every other one of these hospitals, the interior is oppressively depressing. The walls are a dirty yellow, sporting dusty stained war photos hanging crookedly. The medical treatment for veterans is decent and affordable. There is a months' long waiting list for both physical and psychological services. Minor or day surgery of all types is performed here; major operations are sent to Malloy General Hospital in the city proper. There is no emergency room, but a pharmacy is on the premises. The place has been robbed at gunpoint twice in recent years by addicts seeking prescription narcotics. With access to medical facilities and surgical suites, even low class ones, the VA is a Science 2/Medicine 3 site. 'You're-So-Soft Laundry '(Streetwise/Larceny 2 Site) A 24-hour Laundromat, the You're-So-Soft Laundry has a cartoonish mural of the Lovecraftian Yog-Sothoth on the front and a huge graffiti dollarsign painted on the back. The back lot is a haven for addicts of all sorts, and there are a trio of different pushers who share the spot amicably under the auspices of the local gang. 'Robot Monster Video '(Occult 2 Site) A most unusual retail store stocking obscure and alternative films, B-movies, bizarre horror flicks, and a great collection of genre magazines, including near full-runs of Famous Monsters of Filmland, Creepy, Angry Youth Comix, Eerie, and Psychotronic Video. Its niche inventory and clientele has kept the shop distanced from the commercial distress faced by many video rental outlets in the era of downloadable and direct home-delivery entertainment. The owner, Mike Reich, a 39-year-old bohemian, has a community access TV show, “Eternal Night” where he plays his favorite, public-domain horror and exploitation movies. 'Arthur Lo's Wonderland '(Location) Serves fantastic Mandarin dishes. The owner, Arthur Lo, is a second-generation Chinese-American. The lunch day and weekend buffet specials are particularly popular. All you can eat for six dollars! The place is noisy, and usually pretty crowded, and the atmosphere is not exactly conducive to socialization. They're open till 9:30 most days. 'Arkham Hotel '(Location) Disaster struck this heretofore-unremarkable four-story hotel in 1928, when it was known as the Tilden Arms. A fire on the second floor rapidly spread, and many guests were trapped because the emergency exits were locked. Five people perished, including the owner. The place was rebuilt to the same unremarkable standards of the original, renamed the "Arkham Hotel," and houses guests to this day. Much to management's dismay, guests and hotel staff occasionally claim to hear screams and smell gasoline, typically on the second floor. These complaints are most frequent in November, when the fire took place. 'Grafton Diner '(Location) Adjacent to the train station, the Grafton is one of the few eateries open 24 hours. It mostly serves travelers or those up too late to cook, and the food is better known for its availability than its quality. While the sun is up the Grafton is cheery, if greasy, and the coffee is served quick and hot. After sundown, the place is eerily reminescent of a Tarentino movie, with flickering, uncovered flourescents, and a deathly still that means a single fly batting against the glass sounds like a passing plane. 'Arkham Bus Depot '(Location) Compared to the train, the ride is slower, bumpier, and, in the winter or rainy months, occasionally hazardous - but the bus routes cover almost all of Kingsmouth. The Arkham Bus Depot handles the main transfer and storage of the buses in this part of town, with the other, smaller facility in Kingsport to the south. Parking rates are reasonable, allowing customers to park their cars in the attached multi-level garage for up to a week or more while away on business and vacation. It is a popular service. In 1978 a serial killer used this depot as his main hunting grounds, and Arkham police have taken the recent step of posting a uniformed officer routinely at the terminal. Bisected by West Street, the bus depot is half food court, and half high-security parking lot. 'Arkham Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority (MBTA) Station '(Location) Once Arkham’s rail gateway to the rest of the country, the MBTA now runs the train station and serves as the city's commuter rail route. Because of the high costs of gas and Boston's notorious traffic, the station is well used by commuters. The station is located very conveniently across the street from the Civic Center, and will alter its schedule to accommodate special events. The MBTA serves Salem, Beverly, Kingsmouth, Gloucester, Rockport, and Ipswitch. Trains stop at the Arkham deport hourly, from the 6am inbound to Boston to the 11:50pm outbound to Rockport. There is usually at least one undercover officer here during rush hour. The train is always referred to as the "T," and the police who work this beat are known as T-Cops. T-Cops are not Kingsmouth police but part of the Metropolitan Boston police force. Relations between town police and the T officers are professional. The terminal can be a very lonely place late at night, an island of concrete lit by harsh white circles of fluorescent lamplight. 'Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Properties' (Intimidate 2 Site) A wide, weedy, barren area along the riverside, covered with MBTA train tracks. Here sit idle passenger cars, graffiti-layered boxcars, bright yellow track repair machinery, a few battered MBTA service vehicles, old barrels, discarded bits of metal, and the like. Junkies and the local criminal element find the tracks yard a good place for nocturnal activities, and hobos occasionally put up for a night in the yard; the Arkham police patrol here frequently. The oppressive atmosphere and rotting wrecks lend to an aire of danger easily exploited by those already capable, and it's entirely possible to scare yourself! While the MBTA station itself isn't remarkable, the grounds along West High Lane qualify as an Intimidation 2 site. Category:Grafton Category:Arkham Category:Northside Category:Locations Category:Science sites Category:Medicine sites Category:Intimidation sites